Adventures in fact-checking for students

Birds Starting Fires Intentionally? (Source Comparison)

Let’s finish with our arsonist birds example. We’ve already verified the reporting source is reliable, the research source is good, and the expertise cited is relevant.

Now (and only now!) are we ready to read the article.

So let’s read the article, and read the abstract of the paper. This will take some time, so do it now. When done you can indicate this to you instructor by putting you laptop lid halfway down.

Now that you have read both, note what the paper says and covers and compare it to what the reporting source covers. Are the fact of the news story correct? Are there elements of the work the news story leaves out?

Note too what the Facebook card displays.

Are the story and headline true? In what ways does a person reading just the Facebook card get the correct impression of the research? In what ways do they not?

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IMPORTANT NOTE

This site contains prompts for lessons that are meant to be facilitated in a face to face session. The meaning and nature of an exercise can often not be determined by the prompt alone.